You Must Stand Up

Overview

The inspiring, on-the-ground story of the rising grassroots leaders in the abortion rights movement during the pivotal first year after Dobbs.

When the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women''s Health Organization—overturning the constitutional right to abortion care—the country was thrown into chaos. Abortion providers and their patients faced sudden closures, new restrictions, and rapidly changing rules as nearly half of the states moved quickly to ban or severely curtail abortion access. Against this backdrop, an army of health care providers, lawyers, activists, and everyday people mobilized to protect what a majority of Americans want: legal abortion.

In You Must Stand Up, Nieman Fellow Amanda Becker provides a real-time portrait of the creative resistance that unfolded in America''s first year without the protections of Roe v. Wade. Amidst daily shifts in health care access, new legal battles coming before partisan courts, and up-for-grabs state constitutions, Becker follows the leaders rising to meet these challenges—doctors and staffers turning to new financial and medical models to remain open and provide abortions, volunteers campaigning against antiabortion ballot initiatives, and medical students fighting to learn to provide what can be lifesaving care.

By depicting the splintered reality of post-Dobbs America, and by capturing how Americans have developed new ways to best protect their constitutional rights, Becker ultimately shows how outrage can beget hope, and give rise to a new movement.